cannabisnews.com: N.J. & R.I. Are In Process of Getting Dispensaries
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N.J. & R.I. Are In Process of Getting Dispensaries
Posted by CN Staff on July 26, 2011 at 09:21:43 PT
By Gregory B. Hladky
Source: Hartford Advocate
Connecticut -- Medical marijuana advocates in Connecticut have been looking at New Jersey and Rhode Island as potential models for how to create a state-regulated system for growing and dispensing pot to patients in need.Both states' programs have been in holding patterns for weeks because of potential federal legal objections, but that logjam appears to have been broken, at least in New Jersey.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has just dropped his opposition to starting up his state's pot program, which means six New Jersey licensed dispensaries could be running by the end of 2011.Christie, a notoriously hard-line conservative Republican and former U.S. Attorney, said last week a new memo from the U.S. Justice Department has cleared up his (Christie's) worries that the New Jersey dispensaries could be targets of federal prosecutors.Unfortunately, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee hasn't reached the same comfort level.Chafee spokesman Michael Trainor says his governor's legal staff is still conducting a review of an earlier Justice Department memo warning the three planned Rhode Island dispensaries could face federal prosecution. Trainor says Chafee “has set no deadline” for that review to end.One reason why there's no hurry to open those dispensaries, according to Trainor, is that about 3,200 medical pot patients in Rhode Island are already allowed to grow a limited number of marijuana plants for their own use. “So the question here in Rhode Island isn't about access to medical marijuana,” Trainor says.A bill to legalize medical marijuana in Connecticut kind of withered away in the 2011 General Assembly, never reaching a vote in the state House or Senate. The bill's supporters say the intense focus on state budget problems and concerns about how to grow and regulate medical pot created roadblocks for a bill similar to one that passed and was vetoed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell several years ago.Gov. Dannel Malloy supports legalizing medical marijuana in Connecticut. His top criminal justice adviser, Michael Lawlor, says he expects new legislation modeled on the systems in New Jersey, Rhode Island and similar programs in other states will pass the legislature in 2012.Lawlor says it's very unlikely the new bill will be anything like the freewheeling medical pot program in California. “They're selling pot brownies in the shop windows out there,” says Lawlor.New Jersey has what's been called the strictest medical marijuana system in the nation. The strength of the pot grown in state-licensed facilities will be restricted; there won't be any marijuana goodies like those Alice B. Toklas brownies in California; there will be no home deliveries; patients must prove they are suffering from severe medical conditions on a specific list or have less than a year to live; and they will only be given a two-ounce supply every 30 days.In March, Rhode Island health officials designated three nonprofit dispensaries to grow and distribute medical pot. Assuming Chafee ever lets them, those three “compassion centers” will be located in Providence, Warwick and Portsmouth.We're talking a lot of pot and a lot of money here. Officials at the Summit Medical Compassion Center in Warwick are forecasting they will be serving 8,000 patients and bring in $25 million in revenue by 2013.A report released earlier this year by See Change Strategy LLC estimates that the U.S. medical pot market will hit $1.7 billion in sales this year. Seven states (California, Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico) are already running medical pot programs. Besides R.I. and N.J., Maine, Arizona and the District of Columbia are getting ready to start their operations.Lawlor says the latest federal medical marijuana memo, which stated that small state-regulated programs wouldn't be made targets, should remove any fears that state dispensaries would be prosecuted.“It's pretty clear it is legal,” Lawlor says. “You can do it as long as you do it in a certain way.” Source: Hartford Advocate (CT)Author: Gregory B. Hladky Published: July 25, 2011Copyright: 2011 New Mass. Media, Inc.Contact: editor hartfordadvocate.comWebsite: http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/ECSRApTqCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by paul armentano on July 26, 2011 at 15:16:04 PT
My latest feature re: mj and mental illness claims
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/151776July 25, 2011 Debunking the Myth of a Link Between Marijuana and Mental IllnessDespite media claims that marijuana can cause psychosis or schizophrenia, there's no science to back it up.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/151776
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on July 26, 2011 at 14:49:33 PT
From an article about another show
there at PBS."Some people are watching this right now shaking their head saying, 'I can't believe there's a cop in uniform that's working with marijuana people,'" Sheriff Allman told FRONTLINE. "And to those people I just say, listen. The voters have passed the law. ... The longer we build up hurdles and we build up laws, then the more money we're going to be spending in court to ultimately be told to get over it. So the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, we're over it, and we're trying to make it work."The Pot Republic: One Sheriff's Quietly Radical Experiment
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/07/the-pot-republic-one-sheriffs-quietly-radical-experiment.html
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 26, 2011 at 10:36:37 PT
Joseph
Thank you. I set the DVR to record it tonight.
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Comment #1 posted by josephlacerenza on July 26, 2011 at 10:30:02 PT
Tonight on PBS Frontline: The Pot Republic
I will watch tomorrow when they have it online!! But, if you can watch tonight I would!! Seems GREAT!I hope Obama and the rest WATCH!!! Not to mention the Discovery Show: Weed Wars!PBS's Frontline: The Pot Republic http://tinyurl.com/3wpox7a!!Coming Soon!! Discovery Channel's: Weed Wars http://tinyurl.com/44lsoyj This is BIG!!! Weeds, by Showtime paved the way for this to happen! Public sentiment is in OUR favor! They, the politicians, will be watching the show, the ratings, and the public response. I know I'll be watching.
Montana Biotech, Re-Discoverying the Science Behind Cannabis
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